American International Airways, Inc., Ypsilanti, Mich., was awarded on July 24, a $21,823,911 firm-fixed-price-contract to provide for FY 1999 international airlift services. There were 57 firms solicited and 33 proposals received. Expected contract completion date is September 30, 1999. Solicitation issue date was February 17, 1998. Negotiation completion date was July 1, 1998. Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott AFB, Ill., is the contracting activity (F11626-98-D0012).
Raytheon, Electronic Systems Division, Bedford, Mass., is being awarded a $6,275,773 modification to a cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for the PATRIOT Anti-Cruise Missile Upgrade Test Program Phase IV. Work will be performed in Tewsbury, Mass. (95%), and White Sands, N.M. (5%), and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 1999. Of the total contract funds, $6,138,472 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on Jan. 13, 1998. The contracting activity is the U.S. Army Aviation&Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
A team of veteran astronauts will begin training soon for the next mission to install new instruments and upgrade spacecraft systems on the Hubble Space Telescope. Under NASA's plan, the crew will rendezvous with and capture the orbiting telescope and secure it in Space Shuttle Columbia's payload bay using the Shuttle's robot arm. Then, working in teams of two, spacesuited astronauts will venture into the payload bay to carry out a variety of tasks that are intended to improve the productivity and reliability of the telescope.
The Boeing Co., Monrovia, Calif., is being awarded a $24,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract with a not-to-exceed cumulative total of $48,000,000, for 16 Mast Mounted Sights for the Kiowa Warrior aircraft. Work will be performed in Monrovia, Calif., and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2000. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on June 30, 1998. The contracting activity is the U.S. Army Aviation&Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala. (DAAH23-98-C-0121).
NASA has won accolades on Capitol Hill for doing more with less as its budget has dropped under the tenure of Administration Daniel S. Goldin, but now Goldin tells agency staff it may be time to ask for more money. In a question-and-answer session broadcast over the agency's internal television network, Goldin says more money will be necessary to "break the logjam on getting the cost of access to space down," an apparent reference to the sort of development that could grow out of the X-33 and Advanced Space Transportation programs.
Sen. John Glenn's second spaceflight is proving a huge draw for reporters and dignitaries anxious to witness the 77-year-old lawmaker's upcoming Space Shuttle launch. Kennedy Space Center, which normally hosts about 300 reporters for a Shuttle launch, is bracing for between 2,000 and 3,000 scribes and talking heads for Glenn's STS-95 in October. The VIP stands, where about 500 swells usually can be found roosting at launchtime, could be packed with as many as 2,500 this time around. Hotel rooms are said to be scarce even in Orlando.
The F-22 flight test program is slated to get a boost later this month when the number of aircraft at Edwards AFB, Calif., is expected to double - from one to two. The second aircraft is slated to fly to Edwards in coming days. AF officials hope this will be sooner rather than later so they can bump up the number of flight test hours.
AIRBUS INDUSTRIE said Thursday that United Airlines solidified options from a 1996 contract and placed a firm order for 22 aircraft, including 12 A320s and 10 A319s. The airline had already placed orders with Airbus, including firm contracts on 111 A319s and A320s.
Advanced eddy-current inspection of rotor disks is set to become the gold standard of testing, as U.S. air safety regulators this week moved to require the procedure during routine shop visits by some 26,000 in-service engines made by General Electric, Pratt&Whitney, CFM International and International Aero Engines.
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey said Friday that the agency had met its internal deadline of July 31 for renovating 60% of mission critical systems requiring Year 2000 (Y2K) work, and that "we have exceeded our goal by renovating 67% of those systems." The White House deadline for completing renovation of all critical systems is Sept. 30. Garvey said that of FAA's 433 mission critical systems, 159 require renovation and that 106 have been renovated, 224 did not require renovation, and 50 will be retired or replaced with compliant systems.
BOEING confirmed Friday that Arkia Israeli Airlines has ordered two more 757-300s valued at $250 million. The carrier also took options on two of the aircraft, which will be powered by Rolls-Royce engines. The first airplane is scheduled to be delivered in the first quarter of 2000. Boeing said the 757-300, launched in September 1996, has 17 orders.
The U.S. Navy has again deployed the small number of Joint Standoff Weapons (JSOWs) it had aboard the USS Nimitz during its most recent deployment to the Persian Gulf. At the end of the Nimitz's tour the missiles checked out fine, and are now aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The FAA is being urged to combine ignition prevention and flammability reduction measures in a single regulation as it tries to reduce the incidence of fuel tank explosions in commercial airliners. The recommendation was made Thursday in Washington by the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee, an industry panel which advises the FAA. But it was vigorously challenged by one of its own members, the Aviation Consumer Action Project. ACAP Executive Director Paul Hudson said the recommendation was a "do-
AIR FORCE MISSION SUPPORT SYSTEM core software that is compliant with Year 2000 rules has been delivered to the U.S. Air Force for testing, AFMSS- developer Lockheed Martin Sanders said. The new software also enhances some system performance, the company said.
The 46th Maintenance Squadron Propulsion Flight at Eglin AFB, Fla., is saving the U.S. Air Force millions of dollars with some innovative jet engine repairs, the AF reports. The Propulsion Flight is performing engine core repairs normally accomplished by depot-level maintenance at Kelly AFB, Texas.
The main cost of lengthening the rotor blades of the U.S. Army's OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter to allow it to carry more fuel and weapons (DAILY, July 31) would be a non-recurring amount of several million dollars, according to Lt. Col. James Weger, the Army's product manager for scout/attack helicopters. The recurring cost, he said in an interview, would likely be fairly low, about $35,000-$40,000 per helicopter. Development would probably take six months to a year, and the modification could be done in the field.
The Senate on Thursday night approved a $250.5 billion fiscal 1999 defense appropriations bill and sent the measure to conference, which won't start until September. The Senate's 97-2 approval of the Pentagon money bill was its last major legislative activity before beginning a month-long recess Friday afternoon. The House approved a defense money bill on June 24. Before passage, the Senate approved amendments that would:
The U.K. Ministry of Defense is eliminating all its WE177 free-fall nuclear bombs as part of a strategy to reduce Britain's nuclear arsenal. George Robertson, secretary of state for defense, said Thursday that all WE177s will be eliminated by the end of August. He made the statement in response to parliamentary questions.
NASA headquarters is putting the finishing touches on the agency's plans for commercial activities on the International Space Station, with a report due at the end of August. Administrator Goldin tells employees the agency is "working with a number of firms" on proposals for commercial research on the orbiting laboratory, with contacts due for signing in about a year. NASA is also talking to "a number of large corporations" about commercial management of the facility.
House National Security Chairman Floyd Spence (R-S.C.) said Friday that there were only two veto-bait issues that could jeopardize a fiscal 1999 defense authorization conference settlement, even though the conferees failed to reach agreement Thursday night before the Senate quit early Friday afternoon for the start of a month-long recess.
HAWKER PACIFIC AEROSPACE, Sun Valley, Calif., signed a five-year, $6 million service agreement with Scandinavian Airlines System to perform landing gear repair and maintenance services on 24 Boeing 767s operated by SAS and its partners, LOT Polish Airlines, Martinair Holland and Spanair. Work will be done at Hawker's U.K. facility.
The congressional Air Power Caucus is scheduled to be briefed this week by the commander of the Joint STARS force on recent missions in Southwest Asia and the Saudi peninsula, and performance of the aircraft and its systems. The caucus, which has made the case for continued B-2 bomber production, may be gearing up to push the Air Force's position on procurement of Joint STARS. The Northrop Grumman line will shut down this year unless the AF orders more than the planned 13, an idea nixed thus far by DOD Acquisition Chief Jacques Gansler.
Iran has been cutting spending on conventional weapons but not overall military expenditures, says Martin Indyk, U.S. assistant secretary of state for near-east affairs. Instead of investing in conventional arms, he says, Teheran is spending its money on weapons of mass destruction and on ways to deliver them.
